#therapist interview

[hauntedselves]

do you have any advice for finding a competent therapist for DID? like questions to ask them, things to look for, things to avoid, etc. ?

generally, finding a therapist for DID is the same process as for any issue, except that they need to be knowledgeable - or willing to learn - about dissociation and complex trauma.

red flags for therapists specific to DID are things like not believing in it or believing its socio- / iatrogenic / therapist-induced, pushing abuse narratives onto you, pushing a specific healing goal onto you, only willing to talk to the host, pushing you to discuss details of trauma (especially if you're not ready or have only just met)...

here's some tips from this-is-not-dissociative, a PDF from Sidran Institute, a question sheet from a DID book, and some tips from @/switchcase (copy-pasting in case of mobile inaccessibility as it's a blog page, not a post):

if you’re worried you can’t afford a therapist:

ask potential therapist if they offer sliding scale and/or payment plans

check your community clinic and see if they have therapists there. community clinics are either free or low cost. many of them (not all) are trauma-informed or sometimes even knowledgeable about DID/OSDD because of the type of people commonly needing to use community clinics. my current therapist is an isstd member and has a waitlist for clients and volunteers at a clinic for the homeless/at risk for free

if you can’t find a dissociative specialist in your vicinity, search for trauma therapists. some will know about DID/OSDD or be willing to learn

if the lowest priced option is still too much for you, see if they’re willing to offer less sessions. once every 2-4 weeks is better than nothing

how to find a therapist: if you have insurance: go to your insurance website and log in. you can crosscheck names here to make sure that someone is covered by your insurance

http://isst-d.org has a directory for people that pay to be members (meaning they go to continuing education stuff or access resources ISSTD has). you can then narrow by zipcode and then crosscheck the names with your insurance page

you can also google “dissociative therapist [zipcode]”. a psychologytoday website will pop up, and basically it’s a yellowpages for therapists that claim to be dissociative specialists. keep in mind they get to put whatever they want on there, so be sure to check if they just claimed they specialize in everything and be sure to interview them

Things to Ask Your Potential Therapist:

do you offer a free initial consultation?

do you take [insert your insurance company] insurance?

do you have experience working with DID/OSDD?

how long have you been working with DID/OSDD?

what methods do you use in treatment?

how do you view clients with DID/OSDD? (this is open ended for a reason, some of their answers will set off red flags)

my goal for therapy is [goal], what would our first steps be?

i have [problem/symptom], is that something we can work on?

do you take continuing education credits, go to conferences, or research about dissociative disorders?

do you have experience with [insert specific trauma]? (OPTIONAL, useful if you have “heavy/unusual” traumas or a trauma that is very important to talk about)

[motziedapul]

Hey everyone! This is my lovely friend Cyrus Nemati, who many of you may know as Theseus, Dionysus and Ares from the first Hades game.

He has spent the last couple years developing his very first indie game, Vampire Therapist, which plays with the many vampire character archetypes from across media.

It's been reviewing VERY well but it's not getting very many wishlists, so if you're interested in vampires, fantastic art and clever, funny, and thoughtful writing about vampire mental health, go wishlist it on Steam!

And listen, Cyrus may be too humble to leverage his colorful career as your favourite Hades hotboys, so I'm gonna do it for him 😌 GO SUPPORT FANTASTIC INDIE DEVS LIKE THIS ONE!

[62-cents]

love people who are like "lestat should have worked on himself and his issues before getting with louis the first time" bc 1) correct they both needed work and 2) where exactly is a 18th century born male vampire going to therapy?? FREUD?????

[queenoftheimps]

Oh God wait if Armand’s recurring “type” is guys who completely destroy his status quo — Marius rescuing him, Lestat with the coven, Louis with the theater —

then that aligns pretty neatly with him getting with Daniel next, when the interview inevitably leads to the penthouse household completely falling apart

[daddy-ul]

Kirk and Cliff's culinary adventures.

(x)

or, the long history of Metallica and toasters.

[yourchocolatenachostudent]

The way Armand, a boy from a brothel, escapes from management positions over and over again to eventually fall in love with Louis the pimp, and even pretend to be his servant for a while...

Yeah, of course, tear my heart to pieces, why not?

[nashvillethotchicken]

Thinking about Lestat seeing Louis’s eating patterns as a waste of his gift/himself while Armand gives Louis food that he literally can not enjoy or digest just so he has something on his stomach

[partynthem]

"We certainly managed to convince ourselves that it was appropriate to put [strings] on the record this time. I think it started off probably with an idea in “Mirrorball” and then, you know, I think... there’s some... yeah — it seemed... then when we looked for other places it seemed, you know, like there was a chance to maybe bring this string sound out sometimes and then have it step into th— out of focus again.” +

[dearest-lady-disdain]

interview with the vampire episode where someone accidentally drinks blood of a human on antidepressants

[knownoshamc]

Why Louis and Armand talk and act like they are in couple therapy when they are with Daniel?

[transjudas]

Tucker: But it's real. In the moment, it's real. (x)

[fayevalcntine]

The whole "Claudia is now his sister"/Louis' sibling comparisons are never gonna sit right with me because that's never going to erase the fact that Claudia exists as a vampire partly because of him. Their relationship will never have this clearly defined role of siblings in the same manner Louis had with Grace or Paul, even if he was their older brother and was implicitly given the role of providing for them as the successor and manager of his family's estate. Because Louis was never responsible in part for their creation, the reason why they existed the way that they do in terms of behavior and life itself.

It also makes his betrayal of her all the more heartbreaking in ways that him and Grace drifting apart never will. He was her father, and didn't provide emotional support for her. She had to turn the tables and try to assume the role of being on an equal level because of this failure but this doesn't make him not choosing her any less painful than it did the first time. Even as they shift roles, take or give emotional responsibility one has towards the other, the fact that Claudia exists the way she does because of him and Lestat will always be there.

[figofswords]

anybody remember the stephanie brown essay I was working on under a research grant fully last summer? yeah it’s not done yet it super needs to be done and I’ve been avoiding working on it for weeks. someone tell me to just do it already

[queenoftheimps]

With the most recent trailer revealing Daniel is genuinely worried he won’t survive the interview (and some dialogue indicating he should, in fact, be worried)

I kind of wonder if there was never actually a plan to let Daniel publish the interview…or to leave the penthouse alive.

They won’t let him go to his doctor’s appointments. It sounds like the furthest he may be able to go is a sushi restaurant in the same tower. Armand is letting the interview happen but is clearly very unhappy about it, while Louis mostly seems to be hoping it’ll be his way of remembering things and processing them…as opposed to actually wanting anything published, which is allegedly the whole point.

Though that would still leave the question of:

Would they simply want him dead? Or…you know…?

Because oh boy do I have THEORIES.

[firelise]

u think armand and louis ever went to couples therapy, didnt like what the lady told them about themselves, and then they just ate her? I think they would do some shit like that out of boredom, for funsies

[jackdaw-and-hattrick]

The press went NUTS when they found out the Dick was working as a pole dancer. It was big news, and everyone wanted to know how Bruce Wayne felt about his Baby Boy working as a stripper. B was… well, he was ticked. Not at Dick, no, he was just proud of him for getting a well paying job in an area he enjoyed. No, B’s fury sat squarely on the press. Papers that had gleefully printed sexual photos and articles about him were now aghast about Dick.

See, B’s whole “playboy” cover wasn’t originally exactly Bruce’s idea. He remembered vividly as a teenager the perceived humiliation of these adults sexualizing every little thing he did and of the constant anxiety of trying and failing to control his image; the way they seemed to pounce on any tiny flaw in his appearance or behavior and the paranoia that developed after the first of many photos of him was published of him just… going about his day, paired with a big red headline blasting him for daring to be a teenager. He remembered being terrified of being seen wearing a swimsuit and refusing to eat in public. So eventually, him leaning into this sexualization as a cover story wasn’t so much because he liked it, but because he knew how eagerly everyone would eat it up.

Now here was Dick, making an informed, consensual choice about how he wanted to be perceived, and they wanted to vilify him for it. So yes, B may have flew off the handles a bit, and yes, it probably wasn’t the best move to punch a reporter, but he had fought Hell to protect his kids from what he had gone through, and that sure as fuck wasn’t going to change any time soon.